i left during the tenure of bill clinton. bill clinton was elected in 1992. i was elected in 1994. i served from that 94 to -- 1994 to 2000. this president is less to reach across the aisle than president clinton. during the term of clinton and when i was in congress, we balanced the budget the first time in 40 years. we balance it three years in a row. when i left, we had a surplus. we also passed my mental welfare reform. reducing the welfare ranks in this country by over 50%. that was done with a democrat president. we also passed the defense of marriage act. host: a lot of differences. president clinton seemed more willing to work for the benefit of the market people in a far less partisan way. host: that was a lot different time. newt gingrich would speak and many of those years. a shutdown happened during that time. is republican leadership different today? guest: i think the were broken leadership -- the republican leadership is very similar to what it was when i was in congress before. one of the reasons we were able to get to a balanced budget was of the government shutdow